Fighting in Nigeria caused oil to break through the "psychologically" important USD 50 level. This actually means - well - not much. Oil would have to rise to something like USD 80 to come near the historical highs in real terms.

While the Fed is still toeing the party line regarding the longevity of the recovery ("just a soft patch") a couple of influential market players are sounding the alarm klaxons. It looks as if Merrill Lynch put out a note warning investors to expect a Tsunami of earnings warnings. ...

The first Friday of every month brings us the start of a weekend and jobs data. I was looking forward to both as an exceptional amount of work has forced me to keep my head down wrt real life. The weekend will bring me a brief respite from an insane ...

A look at the calendar shows me that we're only in February but Federal Reserve Board Governor Edward Gramlich is already stepping up to the plate to swing for a home run in the understatement of the year award. Here he goes (via Reuters):